Press Releases

07/19/06 - 2006 Women in Hospitality Award

11/13/2006

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Press Contact information:
Sara Brazer
Brazer Communications
(860) 355-8229
Greg Dugal, Executive Director
Maine Innkeepers Association
(207) 865-6100
Windham resident receives The Maine Innkeepers Education Foundation 2006 Women in Hospitality Award
The Association has awarded over $115,000 in scholarships in twenty-two years
Freeport, ME – July 19, 2006 – The Maine Innkeepers Education Foundation, affiliated with the Maine Innkeepers Association (MEIA), a leading provider of information and support to the lodging and tourism industry of Maine, is pleased to announce Christina Lougee from Windham as the recipient of the 2006 Women in Hospitality Award. Lougee was presented with the award last month, along with ten other Hospitality Scholarship Award recipients, at a dinner event that was part of the MEIA’s 2nd annual Tees & Textbooks, at the Bethel Inn & Country Club in Bethel, ME.
The Women in Hospitality Scholarship Award is worth $1500, and was created to assist women in their pursuit of a post secondary education. The sponsors wish to assist those students wanting to pursue a hospitality degree or to assist MEIA member offspring with an education that will facilitate potential operation of the family business. The award is sponsored by Nancy Gray, Maureen McQuade and Kathryn Weare, who are all icons of the tourism, hospitality and lodging industry. Nancy Gray is Innkeeper and Owner of the Harraseeket Inn in Freeport, Maureen McQuade is the Innkeeper and Owner of the Inn by the Sea in Cape Elizabeth and Kathryn Weare is Innkeeper and Owner of the Cliff House Spa & Resort in Ogunquit.
Christina Lougee grew up in the lodging industry – her parents own Sebago Lake Lodge & Cottages. Though she is pursuing a degree in Economics, her goal is to return and assist her parents and someday operate the family business. She will be attending Hobart & William Smith Colleges, Geneva, NY
The scholarship program, designed to meet the partial needs of Maine students pursuing a career in the hospitality industry, has awarded over $115,500 in scholarship money to 189 recipients since its inception 22 years ago. This was the first year that 11 scholarships were sponsored, allowing The Education Foundation to give out $7500.
Students who apply for the scholarships are judged by a selection committee that looks at many different criteria including scholastic record, financial data, extra curricular activities, desire for a career in the hospitality industry, and employment record. Scholarship awards are given only to students who have been accepted to fully accredited schools, with specialties in hotel administration and culinary arts. These schools include, but are not limited to: all hospitality schools within State University Systems, all private Universities and Colleges, and Maine Community College System. There is also a Non-Hospitality Scholarship Award available to employees and family members of innkeepers, who are pursuing their education in a non-hospitality field, allowing an opportunity for a scholarship in any career of their choice.
“We are thrilled for Christina to receive this award this year. It will help her in her goal to pursue a higher education that will allow her to return to Maine to fulfill a career in hospitality,” said Greg Dugal, Executive Director, MEIA. “We are really proud of all of the recipients who are truly outstanding individuals, and we are happy to support them in a possible career path in hospitality, which of course will help build the growing business of tourism in this state,” he continued.
About the Maine Innkeepers Association
The Maine Innkeepers Education Foundation is affiliated with the Maine Innkeepers Association, a leading provider of tourism information to both Maine’s lodging industry and its visitors, that represents over 700 B&Bs, camps, cottages, hotels, inns, motels and resorts across Maine, and their suppliers. Through communication, education, promotion and government affairs, the Association helps its members achieve prosperity and deliver a quality product to the consumer. Maine Innkeepers Association is located in Freeport, ME and can also be found at www.maineinns.com.
###